Still Waters Is 19!

My eyes water at the thought, my Baby Girl is 19! Time sure has flown by. Seems like just yesterday she was a wee one. I feel so blessed that I was able to stay home and enjoy spending 24/7 with her. She has grown to be an incredible godly young lady. She is such a blessing.

I left her a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" message on the dry eraser board. It greeted her as she went into the kitchen for breakfast. Today she had to spend the whole day at SU. Which was alright cause we don't usually do "presents" until after dinner.

It is a tradition that the "birthday" person, gets to choose what they want to eat. Not just for dinner, but for breakfast and lunch too. :o) BUT since our oldest started attending college, it's been harder to keep up with the breakfast and lunch tradition. No one wants a BIG breakfast at 6am. As for lunch, they are in school. :o( Soooo, the breakfast and lunch tradition have been moved from the "birthday" day to the weekend after the "birthday" day. Also, depending what the "birthday person" wants to eat, if it's near by, we eat it on that day. If not, it turns out to be a weekend dinner too. Which is what happened this time around. Still Waters was in the mood for authentic Cuban cuisine. YEAH!!! *Update on the dinner on Saturday.

My Knight was able to work out of our Castello today. YEAH!!! We love it when he's able to do that. We all decided to skip church tonight and just hang out together. The Seamstress (my mother in love) has been staying with us, so she hung out with us too. All of Still Waters' gift were wrapped and stacked on the counter with a card attached.

We ate dinner and then ate cake. For dinner we had Pan con Bistec. Doesn't that sound delish?! Well, that translates to steak sandwich. LOL! It's not your typical steak sandwich. The thin cut sirloin steak is marinated with garlic, Worcestershire sauce and vidalia onions. We cook it in an iron skillet with extra virgin olive oil. We use Cuban bread for the sandwich. Where we live they really don't have authentic Cuban bread so we make do with the "Cuban" bread that's available. In the sandwich we put the grilled onions, the steak and shoestring potato chips. My mouth waters at the thought. Still Waters is more of a "pie" lover vs. a cake lover. So we bought a French Silk Pie (her request) and a Key Lime Pie (which she also loves).

After singing Happy Birthday, we all sat around the couch to watch her open her presents. She first opened the card. In it was written that she could get a cd of her choice and the Kingdom Hearts Final Remix video game. (*more on this later) The she went on to the gifts. Well, there were three boxes about the same size. First box had a pair of pretty brown sandals. She wears a size 6 1/2 narrow. Which is not easy to find. I mean 6 1/2 is easy to find, but now narrow. Box number two had a pair of brown sneakers, slip on kind of shoes. She's been looking for a pair like that. Box number three... yep... a pair of sneakers. LOL! She politely told me, "Mom, you bought me this exact pair already for Christmas. Remember that I told you I couldn't wear them cause they hurt my heal?" I had forgotten! Well, to tell the truth, I seem to forget A LOT!!! You see I have bought some cd's not once, but twice! The same goes for nail colors and movies. At least I'm consistent in my taste. ;o) My poor Still Waters, I lead her to believe that those three shoes was all she was getting. I let her go up to her room while I ran to my room and got the BIG BOX. I then called her down and there it was waiting for her. She unwrapped it and found.... a laptop. Not just any laptop, but one that she'll be able to use for what she's studying, computer animation.

Later on I asked her if she was disappointed when she first thought that she only got the shoes, video game and a cd. She told me no. That she was thankful for what she had gotten. Be still my heart...

*UPDATE- Saturday, 9/1- we went to eat at the Cuban restaurant in a nearby town. The owners are Cubans so the food is authentic Cuban cuisine. The food was DELISH!!! Some had the grilled chicken, rice and black beans, all the rest had breaded steak, moro and fried plantains. Moro is white rice and black beans cooked together. It it seasoned a little different and it has a different texture and taste. It's my favorite type of rice. G.I. Joe and The Warrior had Fritas. Which is... hamburgers. LOL! They were were a little surprised to see it on Cuban sandwich bread instead of hamburger buns. But they liked it very much. The night was success.

* My Fair Maidens and Squires really got into the Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts 2 video games. We kept hearing about Kingdom Hearts Final Remix video game. I knew that my Still Waters would love it. Which is why we told her we'd get it for her. Turns out that it's only available in Japan right now. It won't be available here until 2008. :o(

First thing she opened was her card. She's smiling at the thought that she gets to pick a cd. Like I mentioned before, I have bought two cd's at different times, twice! I don't know why, but I've only done that with her. I now keep a list of cd's and books she likes, but doesn't have. :o)


When I saw these shoes, I KNEW they were "her" style. She really liked them. Did I mention that Soaring Amongst The Clouds, Still Waters and I wear the same show size, 6 1/2? :o)


We got her a pair of sandals. She calls them "cloncker" sandals. They are sturdy, bulky sandals. Her old pair was wearing out. She's had them for over 4 years.


Ok, here she is laughing, cause I bought her the same pair of sneakers. The same pair she once told me that hurts her ankle. I can't believe I did it again! Well, I can believe it. I fell like I'm losing my mind.


She really likes her laptop. She wanted to get one, but wasn't expecting it. We are so blessed to have children that are really grateful. They are such a blessing.

Happy Birthday Baby girl. You brighten my world.